Parts and Wholes

In Parts and Wholes, Partheniou explores principles of Gestalt and the inexactitude that derives from the tendency to organize and make sense of incomplete elements. Playing games of association, she presents an installation of minimal object paintings that read like fragments of something seen. An exercise in visual semiotics and physical mondegreen, the accumulation of masses and voids, shape and colour function like a set of visual puzzles, coming together in a constellation of objects to be read and mis-read.

Roula Partheniou’s work is marked by an interest in material play and the double-take. Recent work has centered on an exploration of the replica and how the remaking of a familiar object can trigger a shift in perspective and perception. Making use of visual similes, material puns, colour cues, trompe l’oeil and reductive referents, she deconstructs the familiar in an effort to trigger a reconsideration of common forms, knowledge and assumptions. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with recent exhibitions at AHVA Gallery, Vancouver; Convenience Gallery, G Gallery and Mercer Union, Toronto; DAAP Galleries, Cincinnati; Truck Gallery, Calgary; Mass MOCA, Massachusetts; MSVU Art Gallery, Halifax; Plug In ICA, Winnipeg; and Modern Fuel, Kingston. More of her work can be seen at www.roulapartheniou.com. This is her third solo exhibition at MKG127.